Orangeburg deputy turns self in to Dorchester authorities on charge of beating wife

An Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office deputy accused of beating his wife and shooting at her during an argument at the couple’s Ridgeville home turned himself in this afternoon.

Kenneth Winningham, 42, of Ridgeville faces a charge of high and aggravated criminal domestic violence. He was scheduled to go before a magistrate during a bond hearing this afternoon in Summerville.

A Dorchester County sheriff’s deputy on patrol near Carter’s Fast Stop on U.S. Highway 78 was flagged down about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday by a man who asked the deputy to speak with a woman who was being consoled by family members in the lot at the gas station.

The woman, 23-year-old Kristi Sanders-Winningham, was crying and told the deputy that she had argued with her husband early Wednesday.

Sanders-Winningham said her husband woke her up about 12:30 a.m. and accused her of infidelity.

She told deputies that her husband punched and kicked her and fired a .45-caliber handgun in her direction twice, according to an incident report. Sanders-Winningham also said he took her cellphone, so she was unable to call 911.

Dorchester deputies later searched the couple’s home and found evidence that shots had been fired in the bedroom.

A supervisor from the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office took the deputy’s county-issued equipment, the report said.

An Orangeburg sheriff’s spokeswoman said Winningham is no longer employed with the agency.